PATRICK WEMAMBU
Clearly, the last may not have been heard about the N38bn renovation of the National Assembly’s White House – accommodating both the Senate and the House of Representatives which was said to have been completed between 2022 and 2024.
A gigantic project which has been mired in controversy for years, the ghost of the renovation job resurrected Saturday following reports in certain sections of the media that the roof of the National Assembly had started leaking again. The heavy rainfall the day before was alleged to have triggered the leakage – raising yet fresh concerns regarding the quality and value of the massive contract under review.
It would be recalled that an online platform had on Saturday, reported that a storm from the heavy downpour Friday affected the renovation work carried out by the Construction company handling the project leading to the said roof leakages.
Reporting further, the medium also surmised that some staff of the National Assembly had lamented that had the N38bn renovation work been awarded to Julius Berger, the seeming perennial quagmire would have become a thing of the past.
However, reacting to the Online report, an official of the construction firm, Mr. Olalekan Adebiyi, explained that an investigation carried out by his team through their subsidiary company revealed that there was no leakage from the roof at the White House segment of the National Assembly.
He said; “The report to us is unfounded and simply put, it is envy, because if it were Julius Berger that carried out the renovation work, no such fake report would be written against it. I wonder why some Nigerians always like to be enemies of their fellow countrymen for no good reason whatsoever.
“We checked and found out that it was an ingress of water that came through the smaller windows at the upper part of the chamber building that flooded the floor and not roof leakage. The said story or report has no single picture of points of leakages from the roof, which, to us, is very unprofessional and unethical.
“The report is fake, as there was no leakage from any point on the roof. We did a good job and stand by it, and shall surely be vindicated as more and more rain will still fall in the coming weeks and months.”
Which beggars a very pertinent question at this juncture. National Assembly Roof: Leaking or not leaking?
Going down the memory boulevard, the issue of the NASS leaking roof dates back a couple of years ago. During the 9th NASS, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, then Minority Leader once raised alarm over the continuous leaking of the roof of the parliamentary chambers – describing it as dangerous to lawmakers’ safety.
Said he during plenary on the day in question; ”Our chamber is leaking. While coming into the chamber this morning, we noticed the cleaner making frantic effort to scoop the water.
“This is dangerous to our day to day lawmaking, we cannot be representing our people and speaking for them under a leaking roof.”
He called on the authorities of the National Assembly to do the needful with a view to averting the total collapse of the edifice.
Reacting to the point of order, the then Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila commended the Minority Leader for the Point of order – saying it had been noted.
Time was when leaks from the roof of the National Assembly building disrupted plenary sessions.
Parliamentary activities during heavy downpours were stranded sometimes for several minutes inside the chambers until the rains subsided.
The lobby of the National Assembly became impassable while cleaners immediately mobilised to clear the pool of water.
June 23, 2021, during plenary, then President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said the reported roof leakage at the National Assembly had defended its request for the approval of the former figure of N37 billion for the renovation of the assembly complex.
Lawan stated this in his remarks on two Points of Order raised by then Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, during plenary on the leaking of the roof.
His words; “the fact that there was a leakage, to me it is a clear testimony, confirmation and vindication of the position the National Assembly took initially.
“By the time we came into office and our endorsement, the Speaker and I found it necessary to go round this Senate and we found out dilapidation and degradation.
“In fact, anyone who sees what we have here knows that this place is overdue for rehabilitation. It is even worse downstairs.
“So, we complained to the President that there is the need to rehabilitate and renovate the National Assembly complex after in use for about 20 years and not rehabilitated at all.
“The President was gracious and he asked us to come back, engage the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) who are the owners of this building and the technical side of the National Assembly and some contractors to come up with what we need to rehabilitate here and the cost. In fact, I fought against the initial submissions because I was to take the document directly to the President.”
The FCDA awarded the N38bn contract in 2021 to address matters affecting renovation of the Complex including roof leakage, outdated air-conditioning, furnishings and replacement of faulty audio systems.
Although some Online platforms are awash with photographs of sections of the National Assembly Complex allegedly affected by the leakage of the roof – a visit to the National Assembly for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation yielded no positive result. This is because there was no visible sign of the affected roof or traces of pool water around the premises.
Notwithstanding, the management of the Complex and the Federal Capital Development Authority must rise up to the situation by ensuring proper monitoring of the project. There should be a prioritization of open and honest communication towards ensuring the correct information on the vexed issue.
Accordingly, therefore, a briefing of the Senate and House of Representatives Press Corps by both the Construction firm and the NASS Complex Management with a view to remedying the current information situation on the matter is sine qua non.
At the risk of playing the devil’s advocate – needless to say – inhabiting a bicameral legislative congress with a ‘leaking roof’ poses grave danger not only to the Distinguished and Honourable members therein but also to those not directly involved in the law-making process.
PATRICK WEMAMBU, is Ag. Editor, The Daily Times Newspaper. He can be reached through p.wemambu@ dailytimesng.com
